Flying Lessons
by Zetta
Summary: James rescues Lily from Sirius- happiness ensues. Complete.


Flying Lessons  
>Disclaimer: Not mine, these characters belong to JKR.<br>Summary: James rescues Lily from Sirius- happiness ensues.  
>Rating: Safe for any and all to read.<br>Notes: I wrote this ages ago and just found it. Hope you enjoy. :)

Lily casually grinned at Sirius and slipped out the portrait hole. She closed the portrait almost completely, but didn't let it click shut until she heard Sirius screech.

Then she let it shut, gave the Fat Lady a friendly wave, and hurried down the hall.

She didn't make it far before the portrait hole flew open, and Sirius, his hair a brilliant green, stumbled out. "You!" he cried, his eyes glittering with amusement feigned annoyance. "You've ruined my precious hair!"

She turned a little, unable to stop a grin from crossing her face. "Ruined it? I'd say it's an improvement, actually."

"You Slytherin!" he declared.

She gasped with mock offense. "How dare you!"

He drew out his wand, and Lily suddenly wondered if it had been such a wise idea to prank him. His eyes glittered as he approached her. "Well, if that's how you want to play it," he declared, slowly approaching her. "Then prepare... to be tickled pink!"

Chocking back a laugh, she took off running, going towards the entrance hall, where she could escape outdoors.

Sirius was a much faster runner than she though, and before she got to the Great Hall, he reached out and managed to snag her arm. "I've got you now!" he crooned with a fiendish grin, and then was forced to let her go when a sharp voice interrupted them.

"Mr. Black! Ms. Evans! No running in the halls!"

At once, they both came to a screeching halt, Lily feeling a knot of dread in her stomach, and Sirius giving McGonagall, who had spotted them, a cheerful grin. "Sorry professor," he said, not meaning it.

She did a double take and put her hands on her hips. "Mr. Black," she said with an impatient tone. "What did you do to your hair?"

Sirius blinked innocently. "Ma'am?"

She sighed. "Oh, never mind."

Lily hid a grin and began walking at an easy pace down the hall, knowing McGonagall was watching them.

She heard Sirius moving behind her, whistling softly.

She gave him a perfectly innocent smile as they went around the next corner.

Then she took off running again, Sirius right behind her.

Outside, the air was chilly, but not too bad. Lily made a beeline for the group of students gathered at the edge of the lake, intending to get lost in that crowd.

"Stop!" Sirius cried. "You're never going to escape, Lily-Billy-Milly-Dilly-uh, oh- Silly-Trilly Evans!"

She got to the first set of trees on the lawn before Hogwarts and ducked around one of them.

Sirius immediately started after her, but she went the other way, giving him a grin.

He drew out his wand and continued moving until they had switched places, and she had her back to the castle.

An odd expression crossed his face then, somewhere between amusement and dismay. Lily heard an odd noise behind her and started to turn, but before she could manage, she felt someone grabbing her from behind, and before she had the chance to recover from that, she was being lifted up into the air, and carried out over the lake.

She gasped and nearly panicked, even after she recognized her captor's laughter. "Relax, Lily," James's voice said, and she felt him pulling her up on the broom in front of him.

On the ground, Sirius shook his fist at James. "I'll get you for this, you Lily-napper!"

"Yeah, try it!" James called back, his arms still casually looped around her waist. He waved at Sirius and took off over the lake.

Only slightly less frightened now that she knew what was happening and was at least seated sideways on the broom, she turned to glare at him. "You idiot! You just scared me half to death! Put me down!"

He grinned at her. "Relax. I promise I won't let you fall or anything." His arms slid around her waist. She felt a shiver run through her, and hoped he didn't notice. "Put me down, James!" she demanded again.

"Nope," he said pleasantly, and shifted a bit more.

She debated digging her nails into his arm until he changed his mind, but then decided it would not be wise to antagonize the one who was keeping her from falling into the lake beneath them. She gripped the broom instead.

To her alarm, he let go of the broom and pried her fingers free. "Relax," he ordered lightly. "You're more likely to get us wet if you're holding onto the broom too." She immediately let go of the broom. He laughed again. "If you're scared, just close your eyes and lean back."

"You know I hate brooms," she said, closing her eyes but not leaning back. She opened her eyes immediately, feeling sick from the motions.

He sighed and pulled her back against him, apparently perfectly comfortable with the idea of her leaning against him like she was his girlfriend or something. They were so close together that the side of his face brushed against her head.

He was very comfortable to lean against, she realized with a nervous flutter in her stomach. She almost wished that he wasn't- then, at least, it would be one more reason for her to drop the silly idea that she might like him in any way but a platonic way.

It was odd to even think that she might like him in anything but the most distant of ways. She'd despised him for his pranks for years, but since he'd become Head Boy, he'd backed off of the cruel games and his pranks were occasionally funny. And they'd reacted well when she'd hit them back, too, she had to admit, remembering the grin on Sirius's face as he'd chased after her just a little before.

The changes had come to them all so quickly, she hadn't had a chance to get her defenses up against this new James Potter.

He had slowed down as they reached the shore on the other side of the lake, and now they flew slowly above the tree tops. "You're not going to thank me for rescuing you from Sirius?" he asked.

They came very close to hitting a particularly tall tree. She closed her eyes.

"I think I'd have rather had him push me in the lake," she lied. She wasn't about to tell him she was enjoying herself.

There was a smile in his voice when he spoke again. "Is it the flying that you don't like, or is it me?"

She opened one eye and saw that they were heading straight for the castle. "Right now, I don't think I want to answer that."

He turned away from the building and she closed her eyes again as they began flying downward.

To her dismay, she felt him taking her hands into his, and raising them up. "Look, no hands," he teased.

She didn't dare look, but tried to pull her hands free of his, with no success. "James, steer this thing!"

"That's the good thing about brooms," he said with a grin. "Your hands are free to do other things."

"James, quit telling tales of your conquests, and-" As she spoke, she turned to face him again, but was cut off when her lips brushed against his. It lasted only a second, but she felt her lips tingling even as she turned abruptly away.

He slowly let her hands drop and resumed his position of holding her around the waist. "You were saying?" His voice was oddly soft now.

She frantically tried to remember what they had been talking about. "I-oh, uh... I don't want to hear about what you do on brooms."

"I think I found it more interesting when you got cut off." Abruptly, he turned the broom and headed back away from the castle, towards the Forest. "Hey Lil?"

A little more cautiously this time, she turned again, not quite as much this time. But still enough that if he wanted to...

His mouth was inches from hers, and even as she met his gaze, she knew what he was going to do. He gave her enough time to turn away. She didn't know why she didn't.

And sure enough, their mouths touched again, tentatively. In the back of her mind, she realized that the broom was no longer moving, but that was probably for the best since her mind was suddenly spinning dizzily. She closed her eyes, felt him gently pulling her closer with one arm, touching the side of her face with the other. Her fingers drifted so she held his arm against her waist, and she liked the way it felt there.

Their lips parted. She opened her eyes again but didn't pull back and neither did he.

He leaned in to kiss her again. Their lips touched-

A loud shriek from the ground broke them from their stupor.

They both looked to see where it was coming from, and Lily felt a little annoyed when she realized it was just a bunch of first year Slytherins who'd been splashed by the squid.

James sighed softly and slipped his arms around her waist. "I knew there was a good reason I didn't like Slytherins," he said, and before she had to think up a response to that, he sent them flying through the sky, back towards the Quidditch pitch.

Later that night Lily was in the Common Room, trying to study when James and Sirius came in, talking in low voices about something.

James stayed downstairs when Sirius went up to their room, and went over to join her. He smiled oddly, not sitting. "Hey Lil?"

"Yes, James?" she asked, hoping she wasn't blushing because of the memory of their kiss.

He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking a little uncertain, though he tried to hide it. "Wanna go for another broomride?"

She stared at him for a moment, knowing for sure that she was blushing now. "All right," she agreed softly and left her things on the table.

As they walked down the hall towards the pitch, James held her hand.


End file.
